Design and validation of a financial stress scale in Peruvian dependent workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (EFT-Cov19)

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives of workers in different parts of the world. The instability inherent to this stage of health emergency has had repercussions on the mental health of this population. The aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a financial stress scale for Peruvian dependent workers. Observational, analytical, instrumental and cross-sectional study in 749 workers. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA), by unweighted least squares, was performed after analysis of Bartlett's test and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient (KMO). The absolute and incremental goodness of fit was determined by means of the comparative fit index (CFI) and the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI). A PFA was performed after analysis of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index (KMO = 0.903) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (1751.9;gl = 36;p < 0.001), which were adequate. The items converged into a single factor. The EFT-Cov19 correlated positively with the LABOR-PE (r = 0.564, p < 0.01) and with a medium effect size. The reliability of the EFT-Cov19 was calculated with Cronbach's α coefficient, obtaining an acceptable value (α = 0.896;95% CI = 0.88 - 0.90). In conclusion, the EFT-Cov19 scale is a valid, reliable and adequate scale to measure financial stress in dependent workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.